Jan Hus Monument in center of Old Town Square

This large monument is the statue of the reformer Jan Hus (John Huss), one of the most important personalities in Czech history. A hundred years before the Protestant Reformation was started by Martin Luther, Jan Hus was burnt as a heretic for reformist ideas.

Master Jan Hus, the dean of the Charles University in Prague, criticized church practices such as selling indulgence. He used to preach in the Bethlehem Chapel in Prague and he was excommunicated by the pope for his ideas in 1410. Despite that, he continued in preaching and he had many followers in Prague, that´s why the pope interdicted the whole city of Prague in 1414. Finally, Jan Hus was invited to the Council in Constance and he was asked to renounce his ideas. He refused, and he was burnt at the stake as a heretic on 6 July 1415.

The monument was designed by Ladislav Saloun. The foundation stone was laid down in 1903 and the monument was unofficially revealed on 6 July 1915, the 500th anniversary of Jan Hus´s death. A festive event was forbidden. Prague citizens covered the Jan Hus Monument with flowers.

The monument consists of Jan Hus statue and statues of Czech people around him. Jan Hus statue is looking at the Church of Our Lady Before Tyn, which was the main church of the Hussites between 1419 and 1621. The people around him are the Hussite warriors on one side and on the other side there are prostrated people, forced to leave the country in 1620s, after the rebellion of Czech estates was defeated.

Photo 32, Sept 2008

Jan Hus Monument

Photo 33, Sept 2008

Jan Hus Monument

Photo 732, Sept 2008

Jan Hus Monument, detail

Photo 824, Sept 2008